628 On South African Accipitres. [Ibis, 



above in the hopes of picking up a Quail or two that has been 

 flushed and missed. This habit is taken advantage of by the 

 native boys, who, accompanied by their dogs, beat through 

 the corn-lands, but before doing so, give a peculiar call to 

 attract the Falcons, which are sure to be about. These then 

 ' wait on ' above while the boys and the dogs hunt througli 

 the stubble. When a Quail rises the boys throw their 

 sticks ; if they miss, one of the Falcons stoops, and frequently 

 misses the Quail, which drops like a stone into the nearest 

 cover, in which case nothing will induce it to rise again, and 

 is either caught by the dogs or picked up by the boys. 



My friend, Mr. B. R. Langford, late of the Irrigation 

 Department at Pretoria, had some of these Falcons in 

 training before the war. One of these, a Tiercel named 

 " Robin Hood,'^ which he had for about three years, turned 

 out very well, and gave some good flights ; but it would 

 appear from what Mr. Langford told me, that these Falcons 

 cannot compare with the European Peregrine as a game- 

 hawk. 



I have nothing much to record with regard to plumage, 

 except to draw attention to an abnormally coloured young 

 bird, described and figured by Mr. Langford in the 'Journal 

 of the South African Ornithologists' Union.' This appears 

 to have been a somewhat albinistic form, the under parts 

 being normally coloured, but the upper parts more or less 

 mottled and barred with whitish. Adults of this species 

 often have a few greyish bars and spots on the flanks and 

 tibial feathers. 



03. Pandion haliaetus (Linn.). Osprey. 



1 have only met with Ospreys at the mouths of some of the 

 larger rivers in eastern Pondoland, where they are far from 

 common, not more than a pair of birds being found on each 

 river. Their habits in South Africa seem exactly the same 

 as in other parts of the world, and I have already alluded to 

 the way in which the Sea-Eagles rob them of tiieir prey. 

 I have never met with a nest, and so far as I am aware, 

 there is no record of the bird having bred in South Africa. 

 1 have nothing to record with regard to plumage-changes. 



[Concluded.] 



